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Monday, July 2, 2012

New Mobile Payment Options Help You Capture Customers on the Go

In today’s highly connected world, most folks are incredibly busy and always on the go. So when potential customers decide they want to buy from your business, they must be able to do so immediately—from wherever they are.

Modern customers crave ease, speed, flexibility, and immediacy. If you can sell them on your business catering to those needs, people will flock to your brand. So, how can you make payments as easy as possible and ensure you don’t lose sales to the “I want it now” factor?

Go mobile.

Customers love mobile payment options because they get what they want when they want it. Businesses love mobile payment options because companies now can capture sales in a new way. The only downside is taking the time to figure out which mobile payment application—or applications—make the most sense for your business.

Let’s discuss intel on several of the most popular mobile payment options.

Dongle Devices

Dongles rule mobile phone payments—for now. What are they? They are small physical devices (around the size of a quarter) that plug into your smartphone’s headphone jack and connect to a specific app. Customers can swipe their cards through the dongle then sign their name on the phone’s screen. Examples of mobile dongle payment devices include…

Square. So named because the dongle is shaped like a square. This one has actually been around for several years, and it is a favorite with cab drivers. Swiped transactions include a flat 2.75 percent fee. Manual entries have a fee of 3.5 percent fee plus $0.15 per transaction.

PayPal Here. How did PayPal Here choose to differentiate itself from Square? The dongle is a triangle. Oh, and PayPal Here also charges lower fees, which is probably more important. They take 2.7 percent instead of 2.75 percent. Not much, but every penny counts, right?